AS3 + Game Data

My game in AS3 uses XML to hold the game related information (maps, gear, items, enemies, etc) and each piece of data is in a separate xml document (each map in an individual file, all weapons in same file, etc). What would be the best way to incorporate these into my published SWF, without having to maintain the file structure (ie. embedding).

Can I embed external classes? Or do they automatically become embedded when I publish? I have different *.as classes for various parts of the game, do these become part of the published SWF? Or what?

Thanks.